


Stuck Together

by GeminiWishes



Series: Human Fusion AU [7]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Body Horror, Forced Fusion, Gen, Human Experimentation, Human Fusion AU, It's gonna get gross, Mack AU, Mild Gore, Please be mindful of the tags, Vomiting, fusion au, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:41:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23509303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeminiWishes/pseuds/GeminiWishes
Summary: Humans can fuse. The Autobots knew this. But now so do the Decepticons.
Series: Human Fusion AU [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690930
Kudos: 33





	Stuck Together

**Author's Note:**

> This is a follow up of sorts to "When The Cons Find Out", another story in this series. You don't have to read it, but it definitely helps with some of the context.
> 
> Please be mindful of the tags. I don't know if this is really that graphic, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

The Autobots had managed to pinpoint the Nemesis’ location and had opened a groundbridge in a desperate attempt for energon. Ratchet had been pulled along as well, leaving Rafael in charge of manning the groundbridge controls.

Miko saw her opportunity when Raf had been focusing on something on his laptop and Jack had gone to grab a snack. With a grin, she bounded down the stairs and made a beeline for the glowing portal. She heard Raf shout something just before she passed through, and then suddenly, she was in the Decepticon warship.

She’d been onboard a few times now, but she still felt a sense of awe every time she was here. She took a moment to take in the utter magnitude of the ship, with its dim lights and hallways that stretched for what felt like miles. 

She was about to run off to find Bulkhead and the others when she was suddenly pulled back by the arm. “Hey!” she exclaimed.

“Shh! Do you want Megatron knowing we’re here?!” Jack whispered harshly. Miko pursed her lips in annoyance and yanked her arm out of his grip. 

“You didn’t have to follow me, you know. I was going to go find Bulk.”

“Miko, we gotta get out of here. This isn’t just a scouting mission.”

“No way! Come on, we should check this place out!”

“Did you miss the part where I said **Megatron** was here?”

Miko only shrugged as she started backing away. “That old buckethead doesn’t know we’re here. And besides, he’ll flip out over Optimus being here before he’ll even notice us. When that happens, he’ll sound the alarm and we make a run for it. Simple enough.”

“Miko-” Before Jack could launch into his explanation of just how bad of a decision that was, Miko had turned and run off. He had no choice but to follow.

* * *

Miko wasn’t sure which way the Bots had gone, but after almost twenty minutes of wandering, she had come to the conclusion that she was completely lost. So she wandered. She skittered from door to door, peeking inside to see if she could find something cool or something to break. Jack was following behind at a distance, but she knew he’d be able to keep up. 

They’d just passed another hallway when Miko’s phone rang. She fumbled with tit for a moment in her haste to answer, and she saw Jack running towards her in her peripheral vision as she finally managed to flip it open and accept the call.

“Are you nuts?! My ringtone is on! Do you want me to get caught?!”

“Miko, where are you?” Bulkhead’s familiar baritone eased her nerves slightly.

“How’d you know I wasn’t at the base?”

“Raf called. Said you ran after us and Jack followed you. Come on, where’d you run off to? We need to get going.”

Miko frowned, pouting slightly as she turned to glance at Jack. “Aw, already? I haven’t even found anything yet.”

“Miko…”

She grumbled, but with both Bulkhead’s scolding and Jack’s hard glare, she gave their location.

“Alright. Stay there. We’re finished up here so we’ll head your way. Don’t move.” Miko opened her mouth to argue, but he hung up before she could. She huffed and shut her phone.

“Let’s try to stay out of sight until the Bots get here,” said Jack. 

“You guys are no fun,” she grumbled.

“Does this really seem like fun to you?! Sneaking around an alien ship filled with giant robots that’ll try to stomp on you if they spot you?!” Miko didn’t answer. She just crossed her arms and stared down at the floor. Jack sighed and took her by the elbow as he guided them to a wall they could press up against.

Ten minutes passed and no one showed up. Miko debated getting her phone out and calling Bulkhead, but she didn’t want to risk giving away his location in case he was hiding from any Cons. She had to fight back to urge to groan from boredom.

There was a harsh hiss of pressurized air nearby, followed by the thud of giant footsteps. Jack’s hand tightened around her own and Miko found herself squeezing back. They both pressed back against the wall in the hopes that they would go unnoticed by whoever was passing by. 

Miko dared to look up, and saw the Decepticon scientist Shockwave looming overhead. He hadn’t seen them, or at least, she was pretty sure he hadn’t. He was looking ahead with that one large red eye as he walked by. She watched him go for a while before looking back in the direction he’d come from. Setting her jaw, Miko let go of Jack’s hand and made a break for the doorway. She didn’t wait to see if Jack had followed her as she came to a stop in the front of the door and ran inside.

She could tell right away that it was a lab of some kind. Computer screens lined the walls and displayed all kinds of readings and writing that she couldn’t understand. Something was glowing from around the corner and Miko grinned as she ran over to investigate.

Lined up along the wall were a series of tubes. They were rather small for a Decepticon and she wondered what they were for. She could see that there was something floating in the bright green fluid. Cautiously, she approached.

Up close, she could make out the vague shape of a person, but the green goo was so foggy that she couldn’t really tell. She leaned in closer until her face was almost pressed up against the glass.

Something slammed against the glass, causing her to shriek and leap backwards. She crashed into something warm that grunted before she toppled to the ground.

“Careful!” Jack said. Miko rolled off of him and scowled at him. 

“Stop sneaking up on me!” Jack glowered at her and opened his mouth to argue when there was another slam. Both of them jumped before turned to the tubes. 

Pressed up against glass was a human hand. 

They stared, frozen in place. 

“There’s… someone in there?” Jack muttered under his breath. He met Miko’s eyes. The stillness was broken as Miko pushed herself up onto her feet. 

“We’ve got to get them out of there,” she said as she walked around the tube, searching for some kind of opening. 

“Wait, what?” Jack was on his feet now too. 

“Come on,” she said as she got on her knees and leaned down, still searching, “Help me find a way to get this thing open.”

“Miko, I don’t think-”

“Jack? Miko?” She shot up just in time to see Bulkhead and Bumblebee entering the lab. “What are you two doing? We gotta go!”

“Bulk, you gotta help us get this open! Someone’s in here!” Bee buzzed something before Arcee came in. Bee repeated whatever he’d said as Bulkhead came up to the tube Miko was standing next to. 

“Stand back,” Bulkhead said as he wrapped a hand around the top of the casing. With a quick tug, the top came off with a creaking sound and the crunch of glass. Wires were attached to the inside of the lid and disappeared in the strange goo. “Wha-”

An arm shot out of the tube and grabbed the edge. The tube began to wobble as whoever was inside tried to pull themself out. Bulkhead cursed as he tried to snatch up the tube, but whatever was inside had covered the glass, making it too slippery for him to get a grip on. 

The tube fell to the floor and broke apart with a crash. Shattered glass and fluid splattered out all over. Jack pulled Miko back, away from the broken shards. Miko could only stare at the lump that began to move. 

It was shiny with the nasty looking goo, and Miko felt her stomach turn at how slimy and thick looking it was. The lump wriggled on the ground for a moment before an arm reached out to balance itself. Then another. Then ** _another._**

Miko could only stare as a pale, hairless thing that vaguely resembled a human slowly brought itself onto its knees. It slowly lifted its head, revealing two sets of milky white eyes. If she really looked at the thing, she could see the human features: shriveled up ears, a nose, and thin lips. Its body was gangly and frail-looking, and even from this angle Miko could tell that its ribs were visible. It looked like someone had stretched paper-thin skin over a human skeleton. Neat lines marred its body, and the precision pointed to surgical scars. The left arm was normal enough until the elbow. From there, the forearm split up into two, giving the thing three functioning hands. 

The wires that were attached to the inside of the tube were connected to what looked to be ports in the creature’s back and around its neck.

It stared at Miko for a moment, unblinking and trembling.

Then it opened it mouth and let out a garbled noise that made Miko wince. 

“Jack! Miko! Get back!” Bulkhead stepped in-between the creature and the children, and Miko was suddenly being lifted into the air by Bumblebee.

“What the scrap is that?” Arcee asked, her face twisted in disgust. The creature warbled out again and began to twist its head this way and that. Almost as if it was looking for something.

“Whatever it is, it’s not normal,” Bulkhead said. His voice was steady, but Miko knew her wrecking buddy well enough to know that it was all for show. 

Jack was still staring at the thing on the ground when he said quietly, “Miko.”

Miko turned to her friend, confused by the frailty in his voice. Jack looked at her. “It’s human.”

“What?” Arcee brought Jack closer to her chest as she took a step back from the slimy body. “That’s no human.”

“Can’t you sense it?” Jack sounded so small, and it took a moment of Miko looking at the thing before it finally registered.

She’d been looking at the thing’s physical appearance and not its mental one. There was a feeling she got from looking at this pale, squirming thing.

It felt sour, mutated, and - to her horror - familiar.

“That’s… That’s a fusion,” she choked out. From above her, she could hear Bee let out a loud whirr of shock and confusion. Bulkhead was saying something else, but Miko didn’t hear it.

She couldn’t stop staring at the thing on the floor. The human on the floor. The **_humans_** on the floor. 

She glanced up at the row of tubes that seemed longer and longer now.

If this is what was in this tube, then did that mean that all of these…?

A loud bang set everyone on high alert. Miko had just enough time to see that a team of Cons had entered the lab, guns raised and shooting, before she was quickly set on the floor next to a stunned Jack.

Bumblebee had joined Bulkhead in engaging the Cons while Arcee kept guard on the children. She used her commlink to call for Raf to open the groundbridge. From the door, Optimus was striking down drones left and right as he fought to reach the others. Miko and Jack crawled further away from the fight.

From the corner of her eye, Miko saw the deformed fusion was still trembling, trying desperately to stand.

Now that she was looking for it, she could sense feelings that only humans who had fused before could pick up on.

There was confusion, and fear, and overwhelming anguish.

And there was pain. So, _so_ much pain.

Her eyes began to prick with tears at the sheer intensity of the emotions the fusion was emitting. 

There was a crash as three drones worked simultaneously to bring Bulkhead down. They forced him to back up, forced him to go on the defense.

“Bulkhead!” Miko cried out, only to regret it immediately. Bulkhead looked at her, away from the drones, and didn’t have time to block the next punch. It sent him toppling to the floor.

Miko’s heart stopped as he slammed into the other tubes. 

Slimy green fluid burst out, covering Bulkhead as well as the floor. As the goo began to drain, other bodies started appearing.

Now that Miko knew exactly what they were, what the Decepticons were doing to them, her horror and nausea only grew.

There was one fusion with two heads and three legs, with one deformed arm sticking out of the middle of its torso.

Another was attached only by the head, and Miko let out a sob as she beheld the jumbled mess of flesh that made up its face.

One after another, the grotesque human fusions slipped out of their containers. One unlucky one had fallen onto a large shard of glass that still stuck to the tube, effectively impaling the thing. It was wriggling and clawing at the glass, cutting up its hands as it screeched in pain. 

Bile was rising in her throat, and Miko could only hiccup out another sob. 

She couldn’t move. 

She couldn’t think. 

She wasn’t entirely sure if she was still breathing.

Miko was vaguely aware of someone shaking her, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer. And then she was being hugged. It took a minute or two for her to realize that it was Jack. She reached up and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into the fabric of his t-shirt. 

“Jack!” Arcee was running toward them, only to be tackled by another drone. Jack pulled Miko to her feet and forced her to look him in the eyes.

“We have to find better cover,” he said. He looked around for a moment before pointing to a nearby computer console. There was what looked to be a series of drawers. A few were open, no doubt having been knocked into at some point during the scuffle. “There!” Jack grabbed Miko’s hand and ran for it, pulling her along. She had to force herself to run, despite the numb feeling in her limbs. 

They were close when something wrapped around her ankle. She cried out and she fell to the floor, grunting as her chest took the full impact. She scrambled to get up, but whatever had her was pulling insistently.

Miko looked back and immediately wished she hadn’t.

One of the fusions had wrapped one of its five hands around her ankle. It split at the hips into two torsos, two sets of arms, and two heads. One of the halves was fighting to sit up with shaking arms, a dark blanket of hair masking its face, while the other one tugged her back.

Miko screamed and tried to kick away its hand. Her boot only slipped on the slick liquid covering its body. 

The fusion warbled, reaching out another hand to wrap around her calf. She could feel the slime soaking through her leggings and making her shudder. She whimpered as she met its eyes. It opened its toothless mouth and, to her horror, spoke.

“ _Hhhhuuuuu… Huuuuu… Huuulllll…_ ” 

“Miko!” Jack grabbed her hand and tried to pull her out of the fusion’s reach, but it was no use. Jack swore and let go, looking for another way.

“ _Hullllll… Puh… Huuuullllp… mmmmeeeee…_ ”

Jack appeared above them and before Miko could react, he brought his foot down on the fusion’s arm. He did it again and again before it finally let go of her leg. Miko scrambled to her feet and ran.

She and Jack reached the drawer, and he gave her a boost before climbing in. They crawled over datapads and miscellaneous tools until they were at the back of the drawer. They could hear the blaster fire and the clash of Cybertronians fighting. Miko’s ears were absolutely ringing with it.

“Jack…”

“We need to stay here. We’ll be crushed if any of those Cons see us.”

“J-Jack, that… those humans,” Miko whimpered. Jack looked back at her, and for the first time, Miko saw the tears brimming in his eyes. 

“Not now,” he said quietly, “Please, Miko. Not right now.”

As if in answer, there was a deafening crash before a familiar voice shouted out, “Jack! Miko!” Ratchet sounded out of breath and both humans peeked out of the drawer to find him looking rather frantically around the lab. Jack got to his feet and waved to the medic. Ratchet was there in an instant, pulling the drawer open and scooping them both up. “I’m getting you out of here,” he said.

Miko didn’t fight it this time.

* * *

The moment they were through the groundbridge, Ratchet set both of them down and began frantically prepping the medical bay. Miko’s legs felt like rubber as she stumbled to the nearest wall. 

Jack managed to take a few step before he fell to his knees and heaved. A thin line of bile splattered on the concrete and Miko felt herself start to retch as well. As her nausea squeezed her stomach, tears spilled down her face, and she could only whimper as she body arched with every heave.

At some point - she wasn’t sure when - Miko had been picked up and taken to the small bathroom that they sometimes used whenever they came to the base. She had curled up against the small metal toilet as she continued to throw up, her body sore and shaking with the effort. 

After what felt like hours, she managed to gain enough control of herself that she was able to go to the sink and wash out her mouth. She splashed some water on her face in an effort to clean up a bit, but she still looked awful. Her eyes were pink and puffy, and her cheeks were sallow. She had a glisten to her skin, and she knew that it was sweat. 

She stared at herself in the mirror. The longer she did, the harder it was to keep from crying again. 

Miko suddenly didn’t want to be alone anymore, so she left the bathroom and wandered back towards the main area. She was about to turn the last corner when she heard the Bots speaking in hushed tones.

“I knew that the Cons were evil,” Bulkhead muttered, “but I didn’t think they were _that_ bad.”

“The Decepticons have been known to practice unethical experiments of all sorts,” Ratchet grumbled. “Especially Shockwave.”

“Yeah, on other Cybertronians maybe.” Arcee sounded angry. The sound of an engine drew everyone’s attention a moment later, followed by the familiar sounds of transformation. 

“I trust that Rafael made it home safely?” asked Optimus. Bumblebee answered with a quick chirp. 

“Should we really keep this from him? I mean, he’s human too. He deserves to know about this,” said Bulkhead.

“Absolutely not,” Ratchet hissed. “You saw what happened when Jack and Miko saw those things. They were completely devastated.”

“Ratchet is correct,” said Optimus, “While Rafael is quite mature for his age, he is still a youngling of his species. Such things do not need to be brought to light at such a young age.”

“And what about Miko?” Bulkhead snapped. “Frag, Optimus, how the pit am I supposed to help her? I don’t even know how _I_ feel about this.” Bumblebee buzzed again before Bulkhead grumbled out “I don’t want to think about it.”

“So what do we do?” Arcee asked. “We have to do something. We can’t just leave those… those humans as they are.”

“I still can’t understand it,” Ratchet said. “I was able to grab a few of the data slugs that held information about the experiment, but none of it is making any sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“From the research I’ve done and what we’ve witnessed with Mack, fusion is a complicated process for even willing humans. How in Primus’ name did Shockwave manage to forcefully fuse them together?”

“I don’t think I want to know.” There were murmurs of agreement followed by a beat of silence.

“I will speak to Agent Fowler about our next move. We will need the humans’ knowledge if we are to help these fusions,” Optimus assured.

“…Can we help them?” Arcee asked quietly. No one spoke, and Miko could feel her eyes stinging again.

A hand rested against her shoulder. She looked up and found Jack standing next to her. “Are you okay?” he asked softly. She stared at him for a moment. His face started to blur as the tears began to fall. She shook her head before wrapping herself around him in a firm hug. Jack hugged back with equal ferver, squeezing her close to his chest as he rested his chin on her head. 

Miko wasn’t okay.

Jack wasn’t okay.

But maybe, with time, they would be. 

As long as they stayed together.


End file.
